Alvin Peabody
apeabody@pnj.com
Jo Hovind, the wife of creationist theme-park owner Kent Hovind, stood solemnly beside her attorney Friday as U.S. District Judge Casey Rodgers handed down a sentence of one year and one day in federal prison.
Jo Hovind, 51, also was ordered to pay $8,000 in fines and three years supervision when she is released from prison.
Hovind was found guilty in November on 45 counts of evading bank-reporting requirements.
[Law requires banks to report transations greater than $10,000. Mrs. Hovind was convicted of making deposits under $10,000. Of course there is no law against this.....]
The same jury found her husband guilty on 58 federal counts, including failure to pay $845,000 in employee-related taxes. He was sentenced in January to 10 years in federal prison.
Jo Hovind’s attorney, Jerry Barringer, said after the sentencing that he plans to file an appeal against the guilty verdict as well as the prison sentence.
June 29, 2007
June 23, 2007
Devilish Rock Festival at Glastonbury, England boast 1,200 injured, over 160 arrests, most for drugs
Still they come. And they bring their innocent children to this hedonist hell weekend.
Revellers line up in a sodden, rubbish littered que to brush their teeth and get water.
Glastonbury, the world's biggest open air arts and music festival, has made environmental issues a pillar of the three-day event by launching its I Count campaign to stop climate change.
The target is for 100,000 festival-goers to sign up at the festival, which has a line-up of hot rock bands, comedians and circus performers at a farm in rural southern England, and each attendee gets a We Can Stop Climate Chaos wristband.
"We've put a lot of effort into focusing Glastonbury on the environment and climate change this year," said festival organiser Michael Eavis, who was recently given an award for services to music by Queen Elizabeth.
"We hope to see at least 100,000 new supporters sign up to the I Count campaign and I'll be the first to put my name down," the 71-year-old bearded organiser and campaigner said.
Lucy Pearce, I Count campaign manager, described it as creating a "massive, popular, irresistible movement for change".
John Sauven, representative for Greenpeace, described climate change as a "man-made disaster" and urged people to make "personal" changes in their lives as well as "putting as much pressure as we can on governments to act".
Atlanta officials declare Constitution-free zone
Atlanta officials declare Constitution-free zone
Punishing pastors so perverts can parade.
June 22, 2007
June 21, 2007
June 20, 2007
Joe Kennedy's First Marriage: Still On | TIME
Joe Kennedy's First Marriage: Still On | TIMEThe most controversial "marriage that never was" in recent U.S. political history is back. Sources tell TIME that the Vatican has reversed the annulment of Joseph P. Kennedy II's marriage to Sheila Rauch. The annulment had been granted in secrecy by the Catholic Church after the couple's 1991 no-fault civil divorce. Rauch found out about the de-sanctification of their marriage only in 1996, after Kennedy had been wedded to his former Congressional aide, Beth Kelly, for three years.
June 19, 2007
Church's street ministry attacked
OnlineAthens.com | News | Church's street ministry attacked
JACKSON COUNTY-The city of Jefferson's police chief wants a group of anti-abortion protesters to tone down their act and has asked the Jefferson City Council to adopt an ordinance to help him do that.
But the pastor whose church stages the regular protests says the Jefferson Lighthouse Baptist Church will fight any ordinance the city passes that would limit church members' right to express themselves.
A group of a dozen or more church members regularly gathers on Saturday mornings - often in Jefferson - holding up signs with anti-abortion slogans and handing out anti-abortion pamphlets.
The church has held these weekend events regularly for the past 15 years, said the Rev. Kevin Whitman, the church's pastor for the past nine years.
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But they're a street ministry, not a demonstration, Whitman said.
In the past and now, the group has demonstrated without a problem - not just in Jefferson, but in other places like Commerce; Hendersonville, N.C.; Greensboro, N.C.; and Atlanta, Whitman said.
In only two places, Hendersonville and Jefferson, has there been any government attempt to tone down the group's message, he said.
But in the past few months, the church members have added two new visual aids - at first, a ketchup-covered baby doll, now replaced with large placards that purport to be photographs of aborted fetuses, body parts of fetuses and the like.
One of the placards shows a life-size photograph of a newborn or near-full-term fetus, its head crushed and jaw nearly severed.
"The picture is the problem," said Jefferson Police Department Lt. Steven Bannister.
The baby and the fetus photos have horrified children in cars passing by and elicited a wave of unhappy telephone calls from their upset parents and other citizens, said Jefferson Police Chief Joseph Wirthman.
"I thought these signs were beyond the pale," Wirthman said.
As a handful of church members shouted their message Saturday morning from the driveway of Wal-Mart on U.S. Highway 441, most shoppers either ignored the demonstration or gawked at the photographs for a second or two.
A few shouted insults or asked the church members to go away.
"I think it's ridiculous," said Chris Collins, of Jefferson. His family - including his 5-year-old son - came to shop, but had to pass the anti-abortion photos to get to the Commerce store's one entrance.
"I support what they are saying, but the use of the photographs, especially for people with small children, is obscene," Collins said.
When the family was stopped at a red light one recent Saturday, a Lighthouse member approached the car and showed his son one of the photographs, Collins said.
"He saw it up close, and he had nightmares about it," he said. "They have every right to say what they want to say, but at the same time, I think you have a responsibility to say it tactfully."
While describing the problem to the city council, Wirthman said that one group, whose name he did not know, had to cancel a fundraising event because of the protesters.
But Whitman said when the church knows of another group's fundraiser, such as a firefighter boot drive, the street ministry moves elsewhere.
Recently, one of the photos sparked a confrontation that might have become violent as the church picketed in Jefferson over Memorial Day weekend, Wirthman told the Jefferson City Council last week.
A man stopped his truck and got out, scolding the anti-abortion posters for their graphic photos, and snatched one of the photo placards from a church member's hands.
The two men exchanged sharp words, but the confrontation did not escalate to any kind of physical assault, both Whitman and Wirthman said.
But the next time, it might, Wirthman warned the council, which is scheduled to discuss adopting an ordinance at Monday's meeting, set for 6 p.m. in the Jefferson Civic Center.
Whitman said church members will resist any efforts to make them hide their graphic signs, just as they've ignored at least one threat from Jefferson police officers that the protesters could face arrest, he said. Overall, police have been "very professional," he said.
The signs are just telling a truth, Whitman said.
"It's not just the abortion. Obviously, we want the babies to be saved, but we want the mother to be saved from a lifetime of knowing she murdered her baby. That's our goal, to see people saved, but we obviously cannot see people saved unless they know what their sins are," he said.
Whitman quoted a Bible verse, Isaiah 58:1, which admonishes believers to "lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins."
And the photos make the transgression of abortion abundantly clear, he said.
"People get upset about us holding up the signs, and to me they ought to get upset about the fact that it's happening 4,200 times a day. The best way to stop abortion signs is to stop abortion," Whitman said.
Many cities, including Athens, have ordinances regulating street demonstrations and other "special events," and Wirthman showed the council one from the city of Gainesville that he thought could provide a model for a Jefferson ordinance.
Wirthman suggested that groups that stage public demonstrations should not only have to get a permit beforehand with the Jefferson Police Department, but should also have to pay for police security when the police chief deems a threat might exist, either to the public or demonstrators.
But the city will be on treacherous legal ground if it tries to make the church pay for security based on how people might react to them, or if the city tries to restrict the content of the signs the group uses, said Gerry Weber, legal director of the Georgia American Civil Liberties Union.
"I think the city has to be very careful in drafting an ordinance along these lines," Weber said. "There are a lot of pitfalls."
Governments can require a group to get a permit for a demonstration, but is allowed very little discretion to deny anyone a permit, he said.
And in a case involving Georgia's Forsyth County, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a city or county cannot charge a fee based on "the anticipated reaction of listeners," Weber said.
And finally, the city will find it "very difficult" to legally impose restrictions that would require the church group to tone down their signs, Weber said.
"Content-based restrictions are very difficult," he said.
• Staff Writer Allison Floyd contributed to this report.
June 17, 2007
Wife of evangelist Billy Graham rejected Biblical baptism
Wife of evangelist Billy Graham rejected Biblical baptismA loyal, lifelong Presbyterian
Though the wife of a famous Baptist minister, the independent-minded Ruth Graham declined to undergo baptism by immersion and remained a loyal, lifelong Presbyterian. When in Montreat, a town built around a Presbyterian conference center, Billy Graham would attend the local Presbyterian church where his wife often taught the college-age Sunday School class.
Due to her husband's travels, she bore major responsibility for raising the couple's five children: Franklin (William Franklin III), Nelson, Virginia, Anne and Ruth.
Ruth Graham was the author or co-author of 14 books, including collections of poetry and the autobiographical scrapbook "Footprints of a Pilgrim."
In 1996, the Grahams were each awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for "outstanding and lasting contributions to morality, racial equality, family, philanthropy, and religion."
Crime novelist Patricia Cornwell began her writing career with a Ruth Graham biography that depicted many deeds of personal charity. Cornwell said as a youth in Montreat she thought Ruth Graham "was the loveliest, kindest person ever born. I still do."
She helped establish the Ruth and Billy Graham Children's Health Center in Asheville, and the Billy Graham Training Center near Montreat.
Ruth Graham will be buried at the new Billy Graham Library in Charlotte -- a source of apparent discord within the family last year. This week, Billy Graham said he and Ruth had decided "after much prayer and discussion" they would be laid to rest at the foot of a cross-shaped walkway in the library's prayer garden.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Though the wife of a famous Baptist minister, the independent-minded Ruth Graham declined to undergo baptism by immersion and remained a loyal, lifelong Presbyterian. When in Montreat, a town built around a Presbyterian conference center, Billy Graham would attend the local Presbyterian church where his wife often taught the college-age Sunday School class.
Due to her husband's travels, she bore major responsibility for raising the couple's five children: Franklin (William Franklin III), Nelson, Virginia, Anne and Ruth.
Ruth Graham was the author or co-author of 14 books, including collections of poetry and the autobiographical scrapbook "Footprints of a Pilgrim."
In 1996, the Grahams were each awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for "outstanding and lasting contributions to morality, racial equality, family, philanthropy, and religion."
Crime novelist Patricia Cornwell began her writing career with a Ruth Graham biography that depicted many deeds of personal charity. Cornwell said as a youth in Montreat she thought Ruth Graham "was the loveliest, kindest person ever born. I still do."
She helped establish the Ruth and Billy Graham Children's Health Center in Asheville, and the Billy Graham Training Center near Montreat.
Ruth Graham will be buried at the new Billy Graham Library in Charlotte -- a source of apparent discord within the family last year. This week, Billy Graham said he and Ruth had decided "after much prayer and discussion" they would be laid to rest at the foot of a cross-shaped walkway in the library's prayer garden.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
“Cloud Nine-groovy-hippie-liberals bringing ‘enlightenment’ to inner city schools”
The lesson began with the striking of a Tibetan singing bowl to induce mindful awareness.
With the sound of their new school bell, the fifth graders at Piedmont Avenue Elementary School here closed their eyes and focused on their breathing, as they tried to imagine “loving kindness” on the playground.
“I was losing at baseball and I was about to throw a bat,” Alex Menton, 11, reported to his classmates the next day. “The mindfulness really helped.”
As summer looms, students at dozens of schools across the country are trying hard to be in the present moment. This is what is known as mindfulness training, in which stress-reducing techniques drawn from Buddhist meditation are wedged between reading and spelling tests.
Mindfulness, while common in hospitals, corporations, professional sports and even prisons, is relatively new in the education of squirming children. But a small but growing number of schools in places like Oakland and Lancaster, Pa., are slowly embracing the concept — as they did yoga five years ago — and institutions, like the psychology department at Stanford University and the Mindfulness Awareness Research Center at the University of California, Los Angeles, are trying to measure the effects.
During a five-week pilot program at Piedmont Avenue Elementary, Miss Megan, the “mindful” coach, visited every classroom twice a week, leading 15 minute sessions on how to have “gentle breaths and still bodies.” The sound of the Tibetan bowl reverberated at the start and finish of each lesson.
The techniques, among them focused breathing and concentrating on a single object, are loosely adapted from the work of Jon Kabat-Zinn, the molecular biologist who pioneered the secular use of mindfulness at the University of Massachusetts in 1979 to help medical patients cope with chronic pain, anxiety and depression. Susan Kaiser Greenland, the founder of the InnerKids Foundation, which trains schoolchildren and teachers in the Los Angeles area, calls mindfulness “the new ABC’s — learning and leading a balanced life.”
At Stanford, the psychology department is assessing the feasibility of teaching mindfulness to families. “Parents and teachers tell kids 100 times a day to pay attention,” said Philippe R. Goldin, a researcher. “But we never teach them how.”
The experiment at Piedmont, whose student body is roughly 65 percent black, 18 percent Latino and includes a large number of immigrants, is financed by Park Day School, a nearby private school (prompting one teacher to grumble that it was “Cloud Nine-groovy-hippie-liberals bringing ‘enlightenment’ to inner city schools”).
But Angela Haick, the principal of Piedmont Avenue, said she was inspired to try it after observing a class at a local middle school.
“If we can help children slow down and think,” Dr. Haick said, “they have the answers within themselves.”
It seemed alternately loved and ignored, as students in Ms. Graham’s fifth-grade class tried to pay attention to their breath, a calming technique that lasted 20 seconds. Then their coach asked them to “cultivate compassion” by reflecting on their emotions before lashing out at someone on the playground.
Tyran Williams defined mindfulness as “not hitting someone in the mouth.”
“He doesn’t know what to do with his energy,” his mother, Towana Thomas, said at a session for parents. “But one day after school he told me, ‘I’m taking a moment.’ If it works in a child’s mind — with so much going on — there must be something to it.”
Asked their reactions to the sounds of the singing bowl, Yvette Solito, a third grader, wrote that it made her feel “calm, like something on Oprah.” Her classmate Corey Jackson wrote that “it feels like when a bird cracks open its shell.”
Dr. Amy Saltzman, a physician in Palo Alto, Calif., who started the Association for Mindfulness in Education three years ago, thinks of mindfulness education as “talk yoga.” Practitioners tend to use sticky-mat buzzwords like “being present” and “cultivating compassion,” while avoiding anything spiritual.
Dr. Saltzman, co-director of the mindfulness study at Stanford, said the initial findings showed increased control of attention and “less negative internal chatter — what one girl described as ‘the gossip inside my head: I’m stupid, I’m fat or I’m going to fail math,’ ” Dr. Saltzman said.
A recent study of teenagers by Kaiser Permanente in San Jose, Calif., found that meditation techniques helped improve mood disorders, depression, and self-harming behaviors like anorexia and bulimia.
Dr. Susan L. Smalley, a professor of psychiatry at U.C.L.A. and director of the Mindful Awareness Research Center there, which is studying the effects on schoolchildren, said one 4-year-old noticed her mother succumbing to road rage while stuck in traffic. “She said, ‘Mommy, Mommy, you have to sing the breathing song,’ ” Dr. Smalley said.
Although some students take naturally to mindfulness, it is “not a magic bullet,” said Diana Winston, the director of mindfulness education at the U.C.L.A. center. She said the research thus far was “inconclusive” about how effective mindfulness was for children who suffered from trauma-related disorders, for example. It is “a slow process,” Ms. Winston added. “Just because kids sit and listen to the bell doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll be more kind.”
Glenn Heuser, who teaches a combined fourth- and fifth-grade class at Piedmont, said one student started crying about a dead grandparent and another over melted lip balm. “It tapped into a very emotional space for them,” Mr. Heuser said. “They struggled with, ‘Is it O.K. to go there?’ ”
Although mindful education may seem like a New Yorker caricature of West Coast life, the school district with possibly the best experience has been Lancaster, Pa., where mindfulness is taught in 25 classes a week at eight schools. The district has a substantial poverty rate, with 75 percent of students qualifying for free lunch.
Midge Kinder, a yoga teacher, and her husband, Rick, started the program six years ago at George Ross Elementary, where their daughter Wynne taught.
Camille Hopkins, the principal, said initially she was skeptical. Growing up in South Philadelphia, “I was never told to take an elevator breath”— a way of breathing in stages, taught in yoga — “or hear the signals of chimes to cool down,” Ms. Hopkins said.
But the stresses today are greater, she conceded, particularly on students who lived with the threat of violence. “A lot of things we watched on TV are part of their everyday life,” she said. “It’s ‘Did you know so-and-so got shot over the weekend.’ ”
In after-school detention, children are asked to “check in with their feelings,” Ms. Hopkins said. “How are you really changing behavior if they’re just sitting there?”
Yolanda Steel, a second-grade teacher at Piedmont, said she was hopeful that the training would help an attention-deficit generation better manage a barrage of stimuli, including PlayStations and text messages. “American children are overstimulated,” Ms. Steel said. “Some have difficulty even closing their eyes.”
But she noted that some students tapped pencils and drummed on desks instead of closing their eyes and listening to the bell. “The premise is nice,” Ms. Steel concluded. “But mindfulness can’t do it all.”
June 16, 2007
"I wasn't going to make a big deal about it," the mother said Thursday, "but then he got sick."
A toddler who was served a margarita at a restaurant earlier this week is doing well, and investigators say the incident appears to have been an accident. Police say 2-year-old Julian Mayorga ordered apple juice but instead received an alcoholic beverage in a covered, plastic sippy cup on Monday night at an Applebee's franchise in Antioch, between San Francisco and Sacramento.
The boy's mother, Kim Mayorga, said she noticed Julian making funny faces and pushing away his cup. She opened the lid and was hit by the smell of tequila and Triple Sec. The toddler grew drowsy and started vomiting a few hours later and was rushed to the hospital.
"I wasn't going to make a big deal about it," the mother said Thursday, "but then he got sick."
Applebee's Vice President Randy Tei said the restaurant keeps apple juice and the premixed margarita concoction in identical-looking plastic bottles on ice behind the bar. A manager on duty mistakenly grabbed the margarita bottle instead of the apple juice jug, Tei said.
The company will reimburse the Mayorgas for their medical bills. It will no longer keep the juice and margarita mix in similar-looking containers, Tei said.
"We absolutely believe it was an honest mistake," Tei said.
The boy's mother, Kim Mayorga, said she noticed Julian making funny faces and pushing away his cup. She opened the lid and was hit by the smell of tequila and Triple Sec. The toddler grew drowsy and started vomiting a few hours later and was rushed to the hospital.
"I wasn't going to make a big deal about it," the mother said Thursday, "but then he got sick."
Applebee's Vice President Randy Tei said the restaurant keeps apple juice and the premixed margarita concoction in identical-looking plastic bottles on ice behind the bar. A manager on duty mistakenly grabbed the margarita bottle instead of the apple juice jug, Tei said.
The company will reimburse the Mayorgas for their medical bills. It will no longer keep the juice and margarita mix in similar-looking containers, Tei said.
"We absolutely believe it was an honest mistake," Tei said.
June 15, 2007
June 11, 2007
"Jesus is coming back to Missouri!" Mormons rage at Romney
Tom Grover, 26, a Mormon who is the host of a weekday talk show on politics on radio station KVNU here, said that while he thinks Mr. Romney has handled the scrutiny admirably, some of his callers were incensed about Mr. Romney’s repudiation of his own ancestors’ polygamy. The church outlawed the practice a century ago, but members are taught to understand that polygamy had a theological and historical context in the church, which Mr. Romney’s remark ignored.
“That really left a bad taste in people’s mouths,” Mr. Grover said. “That’s a tough thing for people to hear when their ancestors sacrificed a lot to live that life. They probably wouldn’t bring polygamy back, but they honor the place of it in church history.”
Audrey M. Godfrey, a historian who has written books with her husband, Kenneth, said of Mr. Romney, “If I were one of his relatives, I would be upset with him.”
Another case arose when George Stephanopoulos of ABC News asked Mr. Romney about a Mormon teaching that Jesus will come to the United States when he returns to reign on earth. Mr. Romney responded that the Messiah will return to the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, “the same as the other Christian tradition.”
Mr. Grover said some of his radio listeners were astounded.
“They were just in disbelief, saying that’s not true, Jesus is coming back to Missouri,” Mr. Grover said. “It’s the L.D.S. Church’s 10th article of faith that Zion will be built upon the American continent.”
A Letter From Jack Schapp
I believe it is necessary for me to speak personally to the issue of our college students’ church membership while they are attending our college.
We are a local-church college. Hyles-Anderson College is owned and operated by the First Baptist Church of Hammond. That perhaps in itself is one of the greatest blessings of attending Hyles-Anderson College-to be a vital active part of this fine church. Such is true about each of the Christian colleges that are operated by a local New Testament Church. I believe in the LOCAL CHURCH.
That very fact is why I tell students that I may send to other colleges than ours that they should immediately introduce themselves to the pastor of the church where they attend, and they should join that church and become an active member.
I have found two main concerns of pastors who think it unwise for their college students to transfer their membership. One is a matter of control and influence. There is definitely a trust issue when one sends a student off to a Bible college.
I certainly am honored and humbled that a pastor or parent would send us a member or child. I also think it is a great honor to send a member or child to Hyles-Anderson College. I would never seek to replace either a pastor or a parent in our students’ lives; yet, I would ask to have the authority of the local church to direct and influence our students. I don’t think it wise or practical to pastor your members, nor do I think it wise or practical for you to co-pastor a student in our college which is under my pastoral care and leadership.
I do not seek the students’ money, but I do desire to have their heart and you and I both know that “where you treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Many students never give us their heart, and forfeit a great learning experience. Many students are constantly relaying back home to their pastors what I am preaching while I am preaching, and they are sitting in judgment of what our college is doing. I believe that is a most undesirable situation.
I feel that if a student does not want to be under the pastoral care and leadership of our church he should not pretend to be under the authority of the college, for the college authority is that of the local church and pastor.
If you were the pastor overseeing a college, I would insist that my students who attend your college would place themselves under your authority and join your church. It only fits with our philosophy of the local church.
I certainly respect your right to disagree with me on this matter; however, I am not trying to build a college enrollment; I am trying to build men and woman with a passion for God and His work! I want our students to be active members and participants in this church, not casual observers of this operation.
If you think we are using this college to build our church, then you have never run a church-operated college. It simply does not work that way. First Baptist Church was declared the largest Sunday school in the world BEFORE Hyles-Anderson College was started. Ever since that day, it has been a fight to keep the church growing. Colleges do not build churches, but a growing church can provide a wonderful opportunity to teach and train your pastoral candidates.
I would like too have my hands untied with the students you send us. I will exalt you and endorse you, and your students will love and honor you more for having been here; however I want to be the pastor of our students and not simply a figurehead puppet leader whose strings are pulled by the “home pastor.” Our college is boot camp, and we don’t need “Daddy” overriding the drill instructor’s direction. If we are good enough for you to send us your students, then send all of the student, including his heart and mind!!
In closing, let me thank those of you who support us and have loved us through the years. Many of you are graduates of our college, and your alma mater is certainly proud to have had a part in your ministry.
Others of you are tied to us through Pastor’s School. You also are dear to us as fellow laborers in the work of Christ.
Our world has never needed an institution like Hyles-Anderson College as it does now. Colleges and Christian ministries are compromising quickly. Many Bible colleges are graduating nice, polite, decent Christians, but fewer and fewer red-hot, passionate, holy, church builders are coming out of the Bible college movement.
This nation and this world will never be influenced by the large number of above-average, good, decent Christians we graduate; it will be changed by the few great men who have learned to walk with God, work for God, and live for God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength!
To that end, Hyles-Anderson College is dedicated! Everything else ultimately really does not matter!
For Christ’s sake,
Jack Schaap
Pastor
We are a local-church college. Hyles-Anderson College is owned and operated by the First Baptist Church of Hammond. That perhaps in itself is one of the greatest blessings of attending Hyles-Anderson College-to be a vital active part of this fine church. Such is true about each of the Christian colleges that are operated by a local New Testament Church. I believe in the LOCAL CHURCH.
That very fact is why I tell students that I may send to other colleges than ours that they should immediately introduce themselves to the pastor of the church where they attend, and they should join that church and become an active member.
I have found two main concerns of pastors who think it unwise for their college students to transfer their membership. One is a matter of control and influence. There is definitely a trust issue when one sends a student off to a Bible college.
I certainly am honored and humbled that a pastor or parent would send us a member or child. I also think it is a great honor to send a member or child to Hyles-Anderson College. I would never seek to replace either a pastor or a parent in our students’ lives; yet, I would ask to have the authority of the local church to direct and influence our students. I don’t think it wise or practical to pastor your members, nor do I think it wise or practical for you to co-pastor a student in our college which is under my pastoral care and leadership.
I do not seek the students’ money, but I do desire to have their heart and you and I both know that “where you treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Many students never give us their heart, and forfeit a great learning experience. Many students are constantly relaying back home to their pastors what I am preaching while I am preaching, and they are sitting in judgment of what our college is doing. I believe that is a most undesirable situation.
I feel that if a student does not want to be under the pastoral care and leadership of our church he should not pretend to be under the authority of the college, for the college authority is that of the local church and pastor.
If you were the pastor overseeing a college, I would insist that my students who attend your college would place themselves under your authority and join your church. It only fits with our philosophy of the local church.
I certainly respect your right to disagree with me on this matter; however, I am not trying to build a college enrollment; I am trying to build men and woman with a passion for God and His work! I want our students to be active members and participants in this church, not casual observers of this operation.
If you think we are using this college to build our church, then you have never run a church-operated college. It simply does not work that way. First Baptist Church was declared the largest Sunday school in the world BEFORE Hyles-Anderson College was started. Ever since that day, it has been a fight to keep the church growing. Colleges do not build churches, but a growing church can provide a wonderful opportunity to teach and train your pastoral candidates.
I would like too have my hands untied with the students you send us. I will exalt you and endorse you, and your students will love and honor you more for having been here; however I want to be the pastor of our students and not simply a figurehead puppet leader whose strings are pulled by the “home pastor.” Our college is boot camp, and we don’t need “Daddy” overriding the drill instructor’s direction. If we are good enough for you to send us your students, then send all of the student, including his heart and mind!!
In closing, let me thank those of you who support us and have loved us through the years. Many of you are graduates of our college, and your alma mater is certainly proud to have had a part in your ministry.
Others of you are tied to us through Pastor’s School. You also are dear to us as fellow laborers in the work of Christ.
Our world has never needed an institution like Hyles-Anderson College as it does now. Colleges and Christian ministries are compromising quickly. Many Bible colleges are graduating nice, polite, decent Christians, but fewer and fewer red-hot, passionate, holy, church builders are coming out of the Bible college movement.
This nation and this world will never be influenced by the large number of above-average, good, decent Christians we graduate; it will be changed by the few great men who have learned to walk with God, work for God, and live for God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength!
To that end, Hyles-Anderson College is dedicated! Everything else ultimately really does not matter!
For Christ’s sake,
Jack Schaap
Pastor
June 10, 2007
Blair 'may become a Catholic deacon'
Blair 'may become a Catholic deacon'
Tony Blair has discussed becoming a Roman Catholic deacon when he quits office.The revelation comes as he prepares to meet the Pope amid speculation that he will use the audience in the Vatican to announce his conversion.In his last foreign engagement, just days before he leaves Downing Street for the final time, the Prime Minister will visit Pope Benedict XVI in what officials say will be a "highly significant" personal mission.The Prime Minister's first meeting with the present Pope took place last June, but he had an audience with Pope John Paul II in February 2003, shortly before the US and British-led invasion of Iraq.It later emerged that the Prime Minister had received Holy Communion from the Polish-born pontiff at a private service for the Blair family in the Vatican.Mrs Blair, who is a devout Catholic, had an unexpected meeting with Pope Benedict last year when she was on a speaking engagement in Rome.In 1996 Cardinal Basil Hume, the late Archbishop of Westminster, asked that the Prime Minister – a member of the Church of England – cease taking Communion at his wife’s London church in Islington.Mr Blair is not believed to have received the sacrament in British Catholic churches since then. However, he is understood to have taken the Eucharist during holidays in Italy where an Anglican church was not easily available.
Tony Blair has discussed becoming a Roman Catholic deacon when he quits office.The revelation comes as he prepares to meet the Pope amid speculation that he will use the audience in the Vatican to announce his conversion.In his last foreign engagement, just days before he leaves Downing Street for the final time, the Prime Minister will visit Pope Benedict XVI in what officials say will be a "highly significant" personal mission.The Prime Minister's first meeting with the present Pope took place last June, but he had an audience with Pope John Paul II in February 2003, shortly before the US and British-led invasion of Iraq.It later emerged that the Prime Minister had received Holy Communion from the Polish-born pontiff at a private service for the Blair family in the Vatican.Mrs Blair, who is a devout Catholic, had an unexpected meeting with Pope Benedict last year when she was on a speaking engagement in Rome.In 1996 Cardinal Basil Hume, the late Archbishop of Westminster, asked that the Prime Minister – a member of the Church of England – cease taking Communion at his wife’s London church in Islington.Mr Blair is not believed to have received the sacrament in British Catholic churches since then. However, he is understood to have taken the Eucharist during holidays in Italy where an Anglican church was not easily available.
June 9, 2007
Pope doesn't recognize the Ten Commandments!
The two men, as is traditional in such visits, traded gifts. The pope presented the president with an etching of St. Peter’s Square from the 17th century and a gold papal medallion. The president gave the pope a white walking stick made by a former homeless man turned artist from Texas, covered with the 10 commandments in multiple colors.
The pope double-checked with the president what was written on the stick.
“The 10 commandments, sir,” the president said...
June 8, 2007
One million march in anti-gay rally -
One million march in anti-gay rally -
An estimated one million evangelical Christians marched in Brazil's largest city Sao Paulo today against homosexuality, just days ahead of what is billed to be the world's largest gay pride parade.
Pastor Andre Fabiano shouted over truck-mounted loudspeakers: "Vade retro, Satanism! Vade retro, homosexuality!" -- Get back, Satanism! Get back, homosexuality! -- paraphrasing Medieval Latin exorcism amulets.
Seventeen flatbed trucks carried musical bands performing live for the marchers as they snaked through the streets of Brazil's financial capital. Police estimated the number of marchers at one million.
The March for Jesus, organised by evangelical churches, comes just ahead of Sunday's annual Gay Pride parade.
In 2006 some 2.8 million marched in the Gay Pride parade. At this year's event, billed as a march against racism, homophobia and male chauvinism, organisers say they expect even more protesters.
"Through the Bible we know that God disagrees with what they (the homosexuals) do," Walter Silva Filho, an evangelical marcher, told the G1 news website. "We condemn those acts, but not the people."
Another marcher, identified as Pastor Paulo Henrique de Oliveira, said the purpose of today's march was not to repudiate homosexuality or compete with the Sunday parade, but was rather a march for evangelical unity.
Brazilian gay groups in May staged protests during the visit to Brazil by Pope Benedict, criticising the Vatican for influencing government social policies.
The Association of Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals, Transvestites and Transsexuals published an open letter denouncing "the public pressure that religious groups, beginning with the Vatican, wield against the passage of laws" around the world that would benefit people like them.
An estimated one million evangelical Christians marched in Brazil's largest city Sao Paulo today against homosexuality, just days ahead of what is billed to be the world's largest gay pride parade.
Pastor Andre Fabiano shouted over truck-mounted loudspeakers: "Vade retro, Satanism! Vade retro, homosexuality!" -- Get back, Satanism! Get back, homosexuality! -- paraphrasing Medieval Latin exorcism amulets.
Seventeen flatbed trucks carried musical bands performing live for the marchers as they snaked through the streets of Brazil's financial capital. Police estimated the number of marchers at one million.
The March for Jesus, organised by evangelical churches, comes just ahead of Sunday's annual Gay Pride parade.
In 2006 some 2.8 million marched in the Gay Pride parade. At this year's event, billed as a march against racism, homophobia and male chauvinism, organisers say they expect even more protesters.
"Through the Bible we know that God disagrees with what they (the homosexuals) do," Walter Silva Filho, an evangelical marcher, told the G1 news website. "We condemn those acts, but not the people."
Another marcher, identified as Pastor Paulo Henrique de Oliveira, said the purpose of today's march was not to repudiate homosexuality or compete with the Sunday parade, but was rather a march for evangelical unity.
Brazilian gay groups in May staged protests during the visit to Brazil by Pope Benedict, criticising the Vatican for influencing government social policies.
The Association of Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals, Transvestites and Transsexuals published an open letter denouncing "the public pressure that religious groups, beginning with the Vatican, wield against the passage of laws" around the world that would benefit people like them.
President Bush scheduled to pay visit to the Pope
U.S. President George W. Bush is coming to the Vatican for his first formal audience with Pope Benedict XVI, a meeting seen on both sides as immensely important.
Vatican officials said the June 9 encounter would give the pope and the president a chance to sit down for a survey of dramatic situations around the world, including Iraq, where thousands of Christians have been forced to flee.
The Bush administration believes the audience will highlight the shared values and common objectives of the Vatican and the United States.
Vatican officials said the June 9 encounter would give the pope and the president a chance to sit down for a survey of dramatic situations around the world, including Iraq, where thousands of Christians have been forced to flee.
The Bush administration believes the audience will highlight the shared values and common objectives of the Vatican and the United States.
June 7, 2007
Catholic sues over prayer in "Jesus name" at LA. graduation
For the second time in as many months, a parent has launched a federal lawsuit against the Tangipahoa School Board over religion, this time objecting to a teacher-led prayer delivered at a recent high school graduation ceremony.The suit was filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in New Orleans. It marks the sixth court case in 13 years by the American Civil Liberties Union against the same school district involving matters of religion, according to Joe Cook, executive director of Louisiana's branch of the ACLU.
"It's certainly a state record," Cook said. "I'm not aware of any school district that's been sued this many times for religious freedom."
At the ceremony, John "P" received a program that specified a student would deliver the invocation. Instead, a faculty member at PM High School gave a prayer that began with "Lord we thank you for ... " and ended with "We pray for these things in Jesus' name, Amen," the suit states.
John "P," who is Catholic, found the invocation "offensive and objectionable" because it served to advance only one faith, Christianity, the suit claims.
Last month, a parent filed a federal suit claiming the district permitted the distribution of Gideon Bibles to a class of fifth-graders while on school grounds. The board has also been sued for allowing teacher-led prayer in the classroom, over the intercom, at school-sponsored events and during board meetings.[Snip, article here]
June 6, 2007
Surprising Study Reveals Half Southern Baptist Pastors Believe in Gift of Tongues
Surprising Study Reveals Half Southern Baptist Pastors Believe in Gift of Tongues
Half of Southern Baptist pastors say they believe the Holy Spirit gives some people a special language to pray to God – what is known to some as private prayer language – a surprising new study found. (snip)
What is "praying in the Spirit?"
Missionary/Pastor David Cloud writes:There is no “private prayer language” in the New Testament. It is the recent invention of Pentecostals and Charismatics who, having realized that they cannot speak in real tongues that can be interpreted (one of the absolute biblical requirements), were forced either to renounce their experience or to create some sort of cockeyed defense for it.
There is not one example of a prayer in the Bible that is uttered in unintelligible mutterings that “bypass the intellect.”Jesus Christ did not pray that way and neither did the apostles. I have heard Charismatics speak in their “private prayer language” in churches and conferences in many parts of the world. Larry Lea’s “private prayer language” at Indianapolis ’90 went something like this: “Bubblyida bubblyida hallelujah bubblyida hallabubbly shallabubblyida kolabubblyida glooooory hallelujah bubblyida.”
I wrote that down as he was saying it and later checked it against the tape. Nancy Kellar, a Roman Catholic nun who was on the executive committee of St. Louis 2000, spoke in “tongues” that went like this: “Shananaa leea, shananaa higha, shananaa nanaa, shananaa leea…” repeated over and over.
Friends, this is not any sort of biblical prayer; it is childish nonsense, but it is neither innocent nor lacking in spiritual danger. The Bible warns repeatedly and forcefully about the danger of spiritual deception, and those who empty their minds through the practice of a “private prayer language” are in danger of the devil filling them.
The Southern Baptist Convention would do well to cleanse itself of all Charismatic practices, but no half-hearted attempt will ever get the job done. What kind of silliness is this, forbidding missionaries to do something that the head of their agency does!
Because the SBC refuses to discipline charismatic error thoroughly and consistently, the charismatic leaven will doubtless spread.The Bible warns that “a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.” This is true for sin (1 Cor. 5:6) as well as for false doctrine and practice (Gal. 5:9).See also "When Was the Southern Baptist Convention Rescued from Liberalism" and "Why I Am Not Southern Baptist" under the Southern Baptist section of the End Times Apostasy Database at the Way of Life Literature web site -- http://www.wayoflife.org
Half of Southern Baptist pastors say they believe the Holy Spirit gives some people a special language to pray to God – what is known to some as private prayer language – a surprising new study found. (snip)
What is "praying in the Spirit?"
Missionary/Pastor David Cloud writes:There is no “private prayer language” in the New Testament. It is the recent invention of Pentecostals and Charismatics who, having realized that they cannot speak in real tongues that can be interpreted (one of the absolute biblical requirements), were forced either to renounce their experience or to create some sort of cockeyed defense for it.
There is not one example of a prayer in the Bible that is uttered in unintelligible mutterings that “bypass the intellect.”Jesus Christ did not pray that way and neither did the apostles. I have heard Charismatics speak in their “private prayer language” in churches and conferences in many parts of the world. Larry Lea’s “private prayer language” at Indianapolis ’90 went something like this: “Bubblyida bubblyida hallelujah bubblyida hallabubbly shallabubblyida kolabubblyida glooooory hallelujah bubblyida.”
I wrote that down as he was saying it and later checked it against the tape. Nancy Kellar, a Roman Catholic nun who was on the executive committee of St. Louis 2000, spoke in “tongues” that went like this: “Shananaa leea, shananaa higha, shananaa nanaa, shananaa leea…” repeated over and over.
Friends, this is not any sort of biblical prayer; it is childish nonsense, but it is neither innocent nor lacking in spiritual danger. The Bible warns repeatedly and forcefully about the danger of spiritual deception, and those who empty their minds through the practice of a “private prayer language” are in danger of the devil filling them.
The Southern Baptist Convention would do well to cleanse itself of all Charismatic practices, but no half-hearted attempt will ever get the job done. What kind of silliness is this, forbidding missionaries to do something that the head of their agency does!
Because the SBC refuses to discipline charismatic error thoroughly and consistently, the charismatic leaven will doubtless spread.The Bible warns that “a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.” This is true for sin (1 Cor. 5:6) as well as for false doctrine and practice (Gal. 5:9).See also "When Was the Southern Baptist Convention Rescued from Liberalism" and "Why I Am Not Southern Baptist" under the Southern Baptist section of the End Times Apostasy Database at the Way of Life Literature web site -- http://www.wayoflife.org
Man tries to board popemobile -
Man tries to board popemobile - : "VATICAN CITY (CNN) -- A man tried to jump into the back of the open-air vehicle carrying Pope Benedict XVI in Vatican City on Wednesday before being wrestled to the ground.
Video showed the man wearing a red t-shirt, dark shorts, a baseball cap and sunglasses, launch himself over a crowd of people waving flags and holding banners on the side of the street as the popemobile passed by.
The man then jumped over the barricade and seemed to touch the back of the vehicle before at least six men in dark suits wrestled him to the ground. "
Video showed the man wearing a red t-shirt, dark shorts, a baseball cap and sunglasses, launch himself over a crowd of people waving flags and holding banners on the side of the street as the popemobile passed by.
The man then jumped over the barricade and seemed to touch the back of the vehicle before at least six men in dark suits wrestled him to the ground. "
June 5, 2007
Circular patterns growing on moss confuse scientists
Circular patterns growing on moss confuse scientists
Of course it does!!!!!!!!!!!
"A mysterious circular pattern on moss-covered logs has scientists scratching their heads.Last winter, researchers in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park discovered the symmetrical bull's-eye pattern on patches of liverwort (a close relative of moss) growing on pine trees that had died and fallen on the ground.
At this point, biologists aren't sure what causes the circles. Some have suggested snails, while others have speculated millipedes.
"Immediately, we thought of snails," said Keith Langdon, chief biologist with the Smokies. "But snails graze in a zigzag pattern. We can't find records of anything like this in the park. It appears to be a rare phenomenon."
Etched into the velvet-green surface of the liverwort, the patterns have appeared like tiny crop circles. The only reports of anything similar come from the arctic regions of Greenland and Canada, where a moss-eating fungus is believed to be the cause.
So far, there are no known reports of the circular patterns occurring this far south or on liverwort.
Chuck Parker is an aquatic biologist for the U.S Geological Survey who spotted the circular patterns a few weeks ago on a cliff face in the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area.
"Finding them outside the Smokies, and on a substrate other than pine trees, is a variation on the theme," Parker said. "There's a real fascination here. I'd love to figure it out."
Rebecca Shiftlett is a nature photographer and art teacher who was with the group that discovered the circles in the Smokies last winter. They were surveying an area for the All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory (ATBI) when they noticed some unusual impressions on liverwort-covered logs beside the trail.
"When you've been in the woods as long as we have, you look for things you've not seen," Shiftlett said. "These concentric circles jumped out at us. We sat there for the longest time trying to figure out what in the world would do that."
Since 2002, the ATBI has sent an army of researchers and volunteers into the Smokies to collect and catalogue every living life form.
So far, the ATBI has identified approximately 4,666 species that are new records for the park and 651 species new to science.
Shiftlett said the bull's-eye patterns are a perfect example of the mysteries that are revealed when enough people start looking around.
"Nature tends to produce shapes that are organic and free form," she said.
"This clearly is a geometric pattern, which, in the natural world, you hardly ever see."
June 4, 2007
Dan Burrell jumps ship
...Or walks the plank, whichever the case may be.
"We've been visiting Northside Baptist Church for the last few weeks and think we like it. We both really enjoy the pastor. We are not crazy about the music style most of the time, however. It is a fundamental church, but quite contemporary in its style of worship. We enjoyed the couples Sunday School class we went to this Sunday. They are going through a book about family and couple issues. It was interesting and seemed to be a good group...During the morning service, we were stunned to hear the Pastor, Dan Burrell, announce that he was resigning. He let the church know that his last Sunday would be September 1st. Apparently, there are some issues going on and some are not happy with him."
"We've been visiting Northside Baptist Church for the last few weeks and think we like it. We both really enjoy the pastor. We are not crazy about the music style most of the time, however. It is a fundamental church, but quite contemporary in its style of worship. We enjoyed the couples Sunday School class we went to this Sunday. They are going through a book about family and couple issues. It was interesting and seemed to be a good group...During the morning service, we were stunned to hear the Pastor, Dan Burrell, announce that he was resigning. He let the church know that his last Sunday would be September 1st. Apparently, there are some issues going on and some are not happy with him."
Woman pontificator compares conservative Southern Baptist to "militant fundamentalists" like murderer David Koresh
Just another glaring example of a messed up woman who hates conservatives!
She says "Militant fundamentalist are NOW intent on purifying the SBC of ANYONE who believes ANYTHING different from them. The standard is set by them and anything less than where they place the bar is 'unqualified' to be Baptist. Groups who are willing to move a little slower, but yet deliberately to accomplish their goals have influenced agencies. But the goals are the same. Purification, Purging, ie Let's send those who don't align with 'us' over to that nasty CBF tent. They aren’t like us, we don't want 'me.
The greatness of the SBC has been its ability to come together in areas with diverse regional, theological and popular constituency and cooperate. If militant fundamentalist have their way in the SBC, there will be no more cooperation; there will be no more diversity. What will be left is "my way-or the highway' clothed with words like 'inerrant and liberalism."
Robin Foster has written a resolution to be submitted at the SBC convention in San Antonio. Please read it, the link is HERE Please read it. This kind of thinking frightens and saddens me. Can you see armed guards coming to get our brothers and sisters who pray 'in the spirit?' May it never be so.
God help us.
Posted by Alycelee"
What is "praying in the Spirit?"
Missionary/Pastor David Cloud writes:
There is no “private prayer language” in the New Testament. It is the recent invention of Pentecostals and Charismatics who, having realized that they cannot speak in real tongues that can be interpreted (one of the absolute biblical requirements), were forced either to renounce their experience or to create some sort of cockeyed defense for it. There is not one example of a prayer in the Bible that is uttered in unintelligible mutterings that “bypass the intellect.”
Jesus Christ did not pray that way and neither did the apostles. I have heard Charismatics speak in their “private prayer language” in churches and conferences in many parts of the world. Larry Lea’s “private prayer language” at Indianapolis ’90 went something like this: “Bubblyida bubblyida hallelujah bubblyida hallabubbly shallabubblyida kolabubblyida glooooory hallelujah bubblyida.” I wrote that down as he was saying it and later checked it against the tape. Nancy Kellar, a Roman Catholic nun who was on the executive committee of St. Louis 2000, spoke in “tongues” that went like this: “Shananaa leea, shananaa higha, shananaa nanaa, shananaa leea…” repeated over and over.
Friends, this is not any sort of biblical prayer; it is childish nonsense, but it is neither innocent nor lacking in spiritual danger. The Bible warns repeatedly and forcefully about the danger of spiritual deception, and those who empty their minds through the practice of a “private prayer language” are in danger of the devil filling them.
The Southern Baptist Convention would do well to cleanse itself of all Charismatic practices, but no half-hearted attempt will ever get the job done. What kind of silliness is this, forbidding missionaries to do something that the head of their agency does!
Because the SBC refuses to discipline charismatic error thoroughly and consistently, the charismatic leaven will doubtless spread.
The Bible warns that “a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.” This is true for sin (1 Cor. 5:6) as well as for false doctrine and practice (Gal. 5:9).
See also "When Was the Southern Baptist Convention Rescued from Liberalism" and "Why I Am Not Southern Baptist" under the Southern Baptist section of the End Times Apostasy Database at the Way of Life Literature web site -- http://www.wayoflife.org
June 1, 2007
Complaint filed with IRS after Tampa televangelist compares Romney to Satan. "Bring it on!"
WASHINGTON _ Florida evangelist Bill Keller says he was making a spiritual -- not political -- statement when he warned the 2.4 million subscribers to his Internet prayer ministry that ``if you vote for Mitt Romney, you are voting for Satan!''
But the Washington-based advocacy group Americans United for Separation of Church and State says the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) should revoke the 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status of Bill Keller Ministries, nonetheless.
Keller, 49, who has a call-in show on a Tampa television station and a Web site called Liveprayer.com, on May 11 sent out a ``daily devotional'' that called Romney ``an unabashed and proud member of the Mormon cult founded by a murdering polygamist pedophile named Joseph Smith nearly 200 years ago.
'' If the former Massachusetts governor wins the GOP nomination and the presidency, Keller's message added, it will ``ultimately lead millions of souls to the eternal flames of hell.''
In a letter to the IRS on Thursday, Americans United called Keller's message a violation of the ban on partisan politicking by tax-exempt religious groups.
Keller, in a telephone interview, laughed off the controversy. ``Let them come after me for making a spiritual statement about Mitt Romney. I would love that,'' he said. ``Bring it on.''
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